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January 14, 2026

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Location:

Salt Lake City,UT,

Member Since:

Aug 18, 2007

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Boston Qualifier

Running Accomplishments:

2007 Chicago Marathon 3:49:15

2006 Chicago Marathon 3:47:42

2005 Chicago Marathon 4:19:39

Short-Term Running Goals:

Sub 00:23 5k 

Sub 3:30 marathon48

Long-Term Running Goals:

sub 3:00:00 marathon

Personal:

I have loved to run since I was a little girl when I won my first race against a neighbor boy in his backyard. I have run recreationally ever since, but never really setting any goals other than distance or to participate in a race for the fun of it. So this is all new territory for me and I'm feeling very out of my league. At the suggestion of a friend, here I am... trying to get to the next step in my running. Besides being a runner, I own an IT Staffing company, am a yoga instructor and snowboarder. I have a wonderful husband and beautiful baby girl.
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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Tue, Sep 18, 2007
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.500.000.000.008.50

PM: Highland track - Good workout tonight.

2.32 mi warm up

1 mi speed changes

400 recovery

3 x 1600 repeats with 800 recovery inbetween

1 - 7:03*

2 - 7:21

3 - 7:22

800 cool down

*Having never done 1600 repeats and being new to speedwork, I was a little over zealous on that first one.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Comments
From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Sep 20, 2007 at 13:09:27

Did 7:03 hurt?

From melinda on Thu, Sep 20, 2007 at 13:41:37

No, it didn't hurt... but I wasn't able to maintain a 7:03 for all three repeats. Maybe that doesn't matter??? I assumed it was best to run them at about the same pace.

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Sep 20, 2007 at 17:50:54

Can you explain "wasn't able to maintain 7:30"? What do you feel slowed you down? Was it legs feeling like lead, and/or being of our breath, as opposed to just being stuck in a comfortable gear, breathing fairly comfortably but not being able to push yourself to go faster?

From melinda on Thu, Sep 20, 2007 at 18:02:12

No, it didn't hurt... but I wasn't able to maintain a 7:03 for all three repeats. Maybe that doesn't matter??? I assumed it was best to run them at about the same pace.

From Melinda on Thu, Sep 20, 2007 at 18:18:20

OK, I can't explain why my previous response was sent thru a second time??? ...sorry for that.

It's funny you mention the breathing... I have always been an all nasal breather. Randy once told me I had to breathe thru my mouth to run faster, naturally I ignored him. I started going to the WA track workouts where another runner also told me to breathe thru my mouth, so I acquiesced. This has been a difficult transition and I often don't feel like I'm in a smooth 'thoughtless' rhythm. Half the time I naturally start breathing thru my nose, the other half thru my mouth and sometime in one and out the other. I don't feel out of breath, just all over the place with it.

My answer is part breath, part legs. By that third repeat, I had to push pretty good to maintain the 7:22.

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Sep 20, 2007 at 18:49:06

The nasal breathing could seriously hamper you. Since you do it all the time, you are more adjusted to it than me, I but I'd say I'd have a hard time going faster than 6:30 with my mouth closed. With it open, I can comfortably sustain 5:30.

What could be happening is that your aerobic development is being hampered by the limitations in the air flow to your lungs. I rarely recommend people to get on a treadmill, but in your case I would. Get on a treadmill, set the speed to 8.8 mph, and do what it takes to stay on it for as long as you can. Imagine you are getting paid $10 a minute (up it if that does not motivate you enough). What happens when you put yourself in a desperate situation is that at first your body tries to convince your mind to quit. When it realizes this is not an option, it learns to deal with the stress and finds amazingly effective ways of coping. Your mouth will hopefully open and you will have no desire to breath through your nose.

From Melinda on Thu, Sep 20, 2007 at 19:21:13

Thanks for the recommendation Sasha; I will give that a try. I'm sure it will just take some getting used to.

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